To realign or to go wider are questions for U.S. 30

ODOT officials are to announce a realignment route this fall.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The Federal Highway Administration wants the Ohio Department of Transportation to explore widening U.S. Route 30 as an alternative to realignment.
Meanwhile, ODOT District 11 officials have eliminated two of four proposed realignment routes.
Greg Gurney, District 11 planning administrator, said environmental impact studies of the area, from East Canton through parts of Stark, Carroll and Columbiana counties to the four-lane state Route 11, will continue through 2003.
He said two routes were eliminated after detailed farmland impact studies, cultural resource analyses and environmental impact studies.
Choices: Of the remaining alternatives, one route goes north of Route 30 in Stark County north of Minerva, travels through Columbiana County north of Hanoverton, then south of Lisbon in Center Township, connecting to Route 11 in Elkrun Township.
The other comes out of East Canton north of Route 30, then dips south into Paris Township, Stark County; and Brown Township, Carroll County.
Continuing east, the road would go between Minerva and Augusta in Carroll County, and north of Summitville and state Route 518 in Franklin, Wayne and Madison townships in Columbiana County, connecting to Route 11 in Madison Township north of West Point.
ODOT officials are to announce a preferred route this fall; then there will be environmental testing of that specific area, he said.
At the Federal Highway Administration's request, consultants are considering whether widening Route 30 would be a viable alternative to realignment, Gurney said.
"Intuitively, you have to think improving existing Route 30 won't work," Gurney said. "That would mean taking out homes and businesses, but we have to look at it."
Meeting set: Gurney said residents interested in the proposed Route 30 realignment and other county ODOT projects may want to attend an information meeting 4 to 7 p.m. April 11 at the courthouse.
He said ODOT is required to offer such information meetings in each county every two years.
ODOT officials will have information about the Route 30 projects and other ODOT plans in Columbiana County in the next four years, he said.
Route 45: Another of the projects is widening of state Route 45 north of Lisbon, Gurney said.
That project, slated for 2003, includes adding a turn lane from the village limits north to Lisbon-Canfield Road, and adding a traffic light at the intersection of state Route 45 and Saltwell Road, Gurney said.